Dayton Daily News...
Sen. Portman hints at deficit panel failure  
November 19, 2011 

Sen. Rob Portman said Thursday that if a congressional committee cannot meet a Nov. 23 deadline to come up with a plan to cut the deficit by as much as $1.5 trillion, he is open to altering the law that would impose mandatory $500 billion cuts to the Department of Defense. 

His comments signaled the first time that Portman, R-Ohio, a key member of the 12-member “supercommittee,” has publicly said the committee may not reach its goal. 

The 12-member, bipartisan “supercommittee” is required to come up with a plan to reduce the deficit by Nov. 23. If the committee members fail, or if Congress fails to pass the committee’s plan by Dec. 23, then a law passed by Congress in August would impose across-the-board cuts to discretionary programs including Defense, Education and Transportation. Entitlements, such as Social Security and Medicare, would not be touched. 

Portman, in a conference call with Ohio reporters Thursday, signaled that such cuts would gut the Defense Department and “are not going to be sustainable or enable us to have the kind of national security we need.” He said he advocates finding “other ways to come up with the necessary savings.” 

Doing so would require a change in the law passed in August. Lawmakers including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., have also previously said such cuts to Defense would be unacceptable. 

Under the law passed in August, Defense could face some $500 billion worth of cuts over the next 10 years in addition to $350 billion worth cuts already passed by Congress in August if the committee fails in its task. 

The cuts would have a sweeping impact on the Defense industry across Ohio. According to the House Armed Services Committee, mandatory cuts could cost Ohio nearly 17 percent of its active duty military jobs and as much as a quarter of Ohio’s defense contracting jobs. 

The cuts would occur beginning in January 2013, after the November 2012 elections. 

Portman comments indicated he’d be willing to alter how they occurred. 

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., described the mandatory cuts as a “blunt, crude way” to achieve $1.2 trillion in savings, but indicated such cuts might be inevitable. “Deficit reduction will occur,” she said. 

Read this and other articles at Dayton Daily News